PSEi dips as earnings season begins

THE LOCAL stock barometer dipped on Monday as investors digested the initial stream of fourth quarter local corporate earnings reports.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 8.98 points or 0.13 percent to close at 6,783.08 in mixed trade, slipping for the second session in a row.

Elsewhere in the region, stock markets were mostly upbeat ahead of a string of February industry surveys that will provide clues on the health of the global economy.

At the local market, the financial and mining/oil indices led the market lower, both declining by over 1 percent. The services counter also slipped.

On the other hand, the industrial counter rose by 1.22 percent while the holding firms and property counters also firmed up.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P4.41 billion. There were 90 advancers that were slightly outnumbered by 94 decliners while 32 stocks were unchanged.

Banking stocks BPI and Metrobank slipped by over 3 percent. BDO also fell by 0.99 percent. On Friday, BPI reported a net profit of P18.23 billion last year, 1.1 percent higher than the level in the previous year. BDO and Metrobank have yet to release their full-year results.

PLDT, MPI and SM Prime all fell by over 1 percent. SM Prime reported a 14-percent rise in core net profit last year to P20.9 billion.

FGEN and Semirara also slipped.

On the other hand, URC gained 3.29 percent and was the day’s most actively traded stock.

Petron also added 3.15 percent given expectations of record high earnings this year.

ALI, which reported a 19-percent growth in net profit last year, gained 1.75 percent while ICTSI also firmed up by 1.1 percent.

Jollibee, AC, AP, SMIC, AEV, Meralco and Manila Water also gained.

Outside of PSEi stocks, one notable gainer was specialty retailer SSI, which surged by 7.14 percent.